The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court has observed that prima facie there appears to be a case of contempt against Akshay Kumar’s upcoming film, Jolly LLB 2. The bench came to the conclusion after watching the trailers of the film, which were released some time back.
As per latest developments, the producers of the film, Fox Star Studios approached the Supreme Court today challenging the Bombay HC order. The SC has agreed for an urgent hearing on the matter on Friday, 3 February.
Advocate Ajay Waghmare had filed a petition against the Subhash Kapoor-directed film. He has demanded the removal of the word ‘LLB’ from the title as, according to him, the film is “a deliberate attempt to malign the judiciary.” He has also alleged that the film has scenes that attempt to malign the reputation of judges who “dispense justice as a sacred duty.”
Waghmare has sought a contempt notice to the makers for “derogative insult and attempt to tarnish the image and reputation of Indian Judiciary and the Legal profession.”
Now, the bench has appointed a committee to submit their findings from the film. Speaking about the issue, senior advocate Rakesh K Singh informed Cinestaan.com, “Out of the three, two will be senior advocates of the Bombay high court and one will be an independent person. They will watch the film and submit their report by tomorrow (2 February) as to whether there is any contempt. It is a prima facie observation based on the trailers.”
He further said, “As a safety measure, the court has asked the committee to give more details. The court doesn’t have time to get into all this.”
When contacted, the producers refused to comment on the matter.
Interestingly, a similar petition was filed in 2013 against the first film of the franchise, Jolly LLB (2013) by a group of lawyers from Meerut. After watching the trailers of the film, they alleged the film to be “defamatory to lawyers” and it amounts to contempt of court.
Former Chief Justice of India RM Lodha, who was heading the case, said while dismissing the petition, “Don’t watch Jolly LLB if it offends you. These things happen in movies. They show Bombay high court’s door and gate and then show something else happening inside. These are all fictitious things.”